diff --git a/src/backend/utils/adt/geo_ops.c b/src/backend/utils/adt/geo_ops.c
index 54391fd..402ea40 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/adt/geo_ops.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/adt/geo_ops.c
@@ -2408,36 +2408,42 @@ lseg_interpt(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
  **		Routines for position comparisons of differently-typed
  **				2D objects.
  **
  ***********************************************************************/
 
 /*---------------------------------------------------------------------
  *		dist_
  *				Minimum distance from one object to another.
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
+/*
+ * Distance from a point to a line
+ */
 Datum
 dist_pl(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 	Point	   *pt = PG_GETARG_POINT_P(0);
 	LINE	   *line = PG_GETARG_LINE_P(1);
 
 	PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(dist_pl_internal(pt, line));
 }
 
 static double
 dist_pl_internal(Point *pt, LINE *line)
 {
 	return fabs((line->A * pt->x + line->B * pt->y + line->C) /
 				HYPOT(line->A, line->B));
 }
 
+/*
+ * Distance from a point to a lseg
+ */
 Datum
 dist_ps(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 	Point	   *pt = PG_GETARG_POINT_P(0);
 	LSEG	   *lseg = PG_GETARG_LSEG_P(1);
 
 	PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(dist_ps_internal(pt, lseg));
 }
 
 static double
@@ -2487,21 +2493,21 @@ dist_ps_internal(Point *pt, LSEG *lseg)
 		result = point_dt(pt, &lseg->p[0]);
 		tmpdist = point_dt(pt, &lseg->p[1]);
 		if (tmpdist < result)
 			result = tmpdist;
 	}
 
 	return result;
 }
 
 /*
- ** Distance from a point to a path
+ * Distance from a point to a path
  */
 Datum
 dist_ppath(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 	Point	   *pt = PG_GETARG_POINT_P(0);
 	PATH	   *path = PG_GETARG_PATH_P(1);
 	float8		result = 0.0;	/* keep compiler quiet */
 	bool		have_min = false;
 	float8		tmp;
 	int			i;
@@ -2543,37 +2549,42 @@ dist_ppath(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 				{
 					result = tmp;
 					have_min = true;
 				}
 			}
 			break;
 	}
 	PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(result);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Distance from a point to a box
+ */
 Datum
 dist_pb(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 	Point	   *pt = PG_GETARG_POINT_P(0);
 	BOX		   *box = PG_GETARG_BOX_P(1);
 	float8		result;
 	Point	   *near;
 
 	near = DatumGetPointP(DirectFunctionCall2(close_pb,
 											  PointPGetDatum(pt),
 											  BoxPGetDatum(box)));
 	result = point_dt(near, pt);
 
 	PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(result);
 }
 
-
+/*
+ * Distance from a lseg to a line
+ */
 Datum
 dist_sl(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 	LSEG	   *lseg = PG_GETARG_LSEG_P(0);
 	LINE	   *line = PG_GETARG_LINE_P(1);
 	float8		result,
 				d2;
 
 	if (has_interpt_sl(lseg, line))
 		result = 0.0;
@@ -2582,57 +2593,63 @@ dist_sl(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 		result = dist_pl_internal(&lseg->p[0], line);
 		d2 = dist_pl_internal(&lseg->p[1], line);
 		/* XXX shouldn't we take the min not max? */
 		if (d2 > result)
 			result = d2;
 	}
 
 	PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(result);
 }
 
-
+/*
+ * Distance from a lseg to a box
+ */
 Datum
 dist_sb(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 	LSEG	   *lseg = PG_GETARG_LSEG_P(0);
 	BOX		   *box = PG_GETARG_BOX_P(1);
 	Point	   *tmp;
 	Datum		result;
 
 	tmp = DatumGetPointP(DirectFunctionCall2(close_sb,
 											 LsegPGetDatum(lseg),
 											 BoxPGetDatum(box)));
 	result = DirectFunctionCall2(dist_pb,
 								 PointPGetDatum(tmp),
 								 BoxPGetDatum(box));
 
 	PG_RETURN_DATUM(result);
 }
 
-
+/*
+ * Distance from a line to a box
+ */
 Datum
 dist_lb(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 #ifdef NOT_USED
 	LINE	   *line = PG_GETARG_LINE_P(0);
 	BOX		   *box = PG_GETARG_BOX_P(1);
 #endif
 
 	/* need to think about this one for a while */
 	ereport(ERROR,
 			(errcode(ERRCODE_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED),
 			 errmsg("function \"dist_lb\" not implemented")));
 
 	PG_RETURN_NULL();
 }
 
-
+/*
+ * Distance from a circle to a polygon
+ */
 Datum
 dist_cpoly(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 {
 	CIRCLE	   *circle = PG_GETARG_CIRCLE_P(0);
 	POLYGON    *poly = PG_GETARG_POLYGON_P(1);
 	float8		result;
 	float8		d;
 	int			i;
 	LSEG		seg;
 
@@ -2669,20 +2686,69 @@ dist_cpoly(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
 			result = d;
 	}
 
 	result -= circle->radius;
 	if (result < 0)
 		result = 0;
 
 	PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(result);
 }
 
+/*
+ * Distance from a point to a polygon
+ */
+Datum
+dist_ppoly(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS)
+{
+	Point	   *point = PG_GETARG_POINT_P(0);
+	POLYGON    *poly = PG_GETARG_POLYGON_P(1);
+	float8		result;
+	float8		distance;
+	int			i;
+	LSEG		seg;
+
+	if (point_inside(point, poly->npts, poly->p) != 0)
+	{
+#ifdef GEODEBUG
+		printf("dist_ppoly- point inside of polygon\n");
+#endif
+		PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(0.0);
+	}
+
+	/* initialize distance with segment between first and last points */
+	seg.p[0].x = poly->p[0].x;
+	seg.p[0].y = poly->p[0].y;
+	seg.p[1].x = poly->p[poly->npts - 1].x;
+	seg.p[1].y = poly->p[poly->npts - 1].y;
+	result = dist_ps_internal(point, &seg);
+#ifdef GEODEBUG
+	printf("dist_ppoly- segment 0/n distance is %f\n", result);
+#endif
+
+	/* check distances for other segments */
+	for (i = 0; i < poly->npts - 1; i++)
+	{
+		seg.p[0].x = poly->p[i].x;
+		seg.p[0].y = poly->p[i].y;
+		seg.p[1].x = poly->p[i + 1].x;
+		seg.p[1].y = poly->p[i + 1].y;
+		distance = dist_ps_internal(point, &seg);
+#ifdef GEODEBUG
+		printf("dist_ppoly- segment %d distance is %f\n", i + 1, distance);
+#endif
+		if (distance < result)
+			result = distance;
+	}
+
+	PG_RETURN_FLOAT8(result);
+}
+
 
 /*---------------------------------------------------------------------
  *		interpt_
  *				Intersection point of objects.
  *				We choose to ignore the "point" of intersection between
  *				  lines and boxes, since there are typically two.
  *-------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 /* Get intersection point of lseg and line; returns NULL if no intersection */
 static Point *
diff --git a/src/include/catalog/pg_operator.h b/src/include/catalog/pg_operator.h
index f8b4a65..c31b8a8 100644
--- a/src/include/catalog/pg_operator.h
+++ b/src/include/catalog/pg_operator.h
@@ -1009,20 +1009,22 @@ DATA(insert OID = 1518 (  "*"	  PGNSP PGUID b f f  718	600  718	  0    0 circle_
 DESCR("multiply");
 DATA(insert OID = 1519 (  "/"	  PGNSP PGUID b f f  718	600  718	  0    0 circle_div_pt - - ));
 DESCR("divide");
 
 DATA(insert OID = 1520 (  "<->"   PGNSP PGUID b f f  718	718  701   1520    0 circle_distance - - ));
 DESCR("distance between");
 DATA(insert OID = 1521 (  "#"	  PGNSP PGUID l f f  0		604   23	  0    0 poly_npoints - - ));
 DESCR("number of points");
 DATA(insert OID = 1522 (  "<->"   PGNSP PGUID b f f  600	718  701	  0    0 dist_pc - - ));
 DESCR("distance between");
+DATA(insert OID = 3591 (  "<->"	  PGNSP PGUID b f f	 600	604	 701	  0	   0 dist_ppoly - - ));
+DESCR("distance between");
 DATA(insert OID = 1523 (  "<->"   PGNSP PGUID b f f  718	604  701	  0    0 dist_cpoly - - ));
 DESCR("distance between");
 
 /* additional geometric operators - thomas 1997-07-09 */
 DATA(insert OID = 1524 (  "<->"   PGNSP PGUID b f f  628	603  701	  0  0 dist_lb - - ));
 DESCR("distance between");
 
 DATA(insert OID = 1525 (  "?#"	  PGNSP PGUID b f f  601	601 16 1525  0 lseg_intersect - - ));
 DESCR("intersect");
 DATA(insert OID = 1526 (  "?||"   PGNSP PGUID b f f  601	601 16 1526  0 lseg_parallel - - ));
diff --git a/src/include/catalog/pg_proc.h b/src/include/catalog/pg_proc.h
index 0af1248..95f0b74 100644
--- a/src/include/catalog/pg_proc.h
+++ b/src/include/catalog/pg_proc.h
@@ -806,20 +806,21 @@ DESCR("set bit");
 DATA(insert OID = 749 (  overlay		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 4 0 17 "17 17 23 23" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	byteaoverlay _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DESCR("substitute portion of string");
 DATA(insert OID = 752 (  overlay		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 3 0 17 "17 17 23" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	byteaoverlay_no_len _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DESCR("substitute portion of string");
 
 DATA(insert OID = 725 (  dist_pl		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 701 "600 628" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	dist_pl _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DATA(insert OID = 726 (  dist_lb		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 701 "628 603" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	dist_lb _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DATA(insert OID = 727 (  dist_sl		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 701 "601 628" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	dist_sl _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DATA(insert OID = 728 (  dist_cpoly		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 701 "718 604" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	dist_cpoly _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DATA(insert OID = 729 (  poly_distance	   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 701 "604 604" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	poly_distance _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
+DATA(insert OID = 3590 (  dist_ppoly	   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 701 "600 604" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_	dist_ppoly _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 
 DATA(insert OID = 740 (  text_lt		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 16 "25 25" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_ text_lt _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DATA(insert OID = 741 (  text_le		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 16 "25 25" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_ text_le _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DATA(insert OID = 742 (  text_gt		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 16 "25 25" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_ text_gt _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DATA(insert OID = 743 (  text_ge		   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f i 2 0 16 "25 25" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_ text_ge _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 
 DATA(insert OID = 745 (  current_user	   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f s 0 0 19 "" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_ current_user _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DESCR("current user name");
 DATA(insert OID = 746 (  session_user	   PGNSP PGUID 12 1 0 0 0 f f f f t f s 0 0 19 "" _null_ _null_ _null_ _null_ session_user _null_ _null_ _null_ ));
 DESCR("session user name");
diff --git a/src/include/utils/geo_decls.h b/src/include/utils/geo_decls.h
index 60b5d01..91610d8 100644
--- a/src/include/utils/geo_decls.h
+++ b/src/include/utils/geo_decls.h
@@ -388,20 +388,21 @@ extern Datum circle_contain_pt(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum pt_contained_circle(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_add_pt(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_sub_pt(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_mul_pt(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_div_pt(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_diameter(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_radius(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_distance(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum dist_pc(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum dist_cpoly(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
+extern Datum dist_ppoly(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_center(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum cr_circle(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum box_circle(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_box(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum poly_circle(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_poly(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 extern Datum circle_area(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
 
 /* support routines for the GiST access method (access/gist/gistproc.c) */
 extern Datum gist_box_compress(PG_FUNCTION_ARGS);
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/polygon.out b/src/test/regress/expected/polygon.out
index b252902..b449e32 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/polygon.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/polygon.out
@@ -271,10 +271,22 @@ SELECT '((1,4),(1,1),(4,1),(4,2),(2,2),(2,4),(1,4))'::polygon && '((3,3),(4,3),(
 -------
  f
 (1 row)
 
 SELECT '((200,800),(800,800),(800,200),(200,200))' &&  '(1000,1000,0,0)'::polygon AS "true";
  true 
 ------
  t
 (1 row)
 
+-- distance from a point
+SELECT
+	'(0,0)'::point <-> '((0,0),(1,2),(2,1))'::polygon as on_corner,
+	'(1,1)'::point <-> '((0,0),(2,2),(1,3))'::polygon as on_segment,
+	'(2,2)'::point <-> '((0,0),(1,4),(3,1))'::polygon as inside,
+	'(3,3)'::point <-> '((0,2),(2,0),(2,2))'::polygon as near_corner,
+	'(4,4)'::point <-> '((0,0),(0,3),(4,0))'::polygon as near_segment;
+ on_corner | on_segment | inside |   near_corner   | near_segment 
+-----------+------------+--------+-----------------+--------------
+         0 |          0 |      0 | 1.4142135623731 |          3.2
+(1 row)
+
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/polygon.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/polygon.sql
index 2dad566..20a7c36 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/polygon.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/polygon.sql
@@ -164,10 +164,18 @@ SELECT polygon '(2.0,0.0),(2.0,4.0),(0.0,0.0)' && polygon '(3.0,1.0),(3.0,3.0),(
 SELECT '((0,4),(6,4),(1,2),(6,0),(0,0))'::polygon && '((2,1),(2,3),(3,3),(3,1))'::polygon AS "true";
 
 --     +--+ *--*
 --     |  | |  |
 --     |  | *--*
 --     |  +----+
 --     |       |
 --     +-------+
 SELECT '((1,4),(1,1),(4,1),(4,2),(2,2),(2,4),(1,4))'::polygon && '((3,3),(4,3),(4,4),(3,4),(3,3))'::polygon AS "false";
 SELECT '((200,800),(800,800),(800,200),(200,200))' &&  '(1000,1000,0,0)'::polygon AS "true";
+
+-- distance from a point
+SELECT
+	'(0,0)'::point <-> '((0,0),(1,2),(2,1))'::polygon as on_corner,
+	'(1,1)'::point <-> '((0,0),(2,2),(1,3))'::polygon as on_segment,
+	'(2,2)'::point <-> '((0,0),(1,4),(3,1))'::polygon as inside,
+	'(3,3)'::point <-> '((0,2),(2,0),(2,2))'::polygon as near_corner,
+	'(4,4)'::point <-> '((0,0),(0,3),(4,0))'::polygon as near_segment;